


Old Time's Sake

by MyFirstAndLastVow09



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-16 04:19:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11821098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyFirstAndLastVow09/pseuds/MyFirstAndLastVow09
Summary: It's been months since Oswald and Ed had the showdown at the docks. Months since Jim was infected with the Tetch virus. Icy waters are tested between Ed and Oswald when a party is thrown at the Iceberg Lounge.This is based on a dream I had where Jim told Ed "Do not make the same mistake I did."





	Old Time's Sake

**Author's Note:**

> Not beta'd. Any and all mistakes are mine. Gotham and the characters however are not.

Jim Gordon had never understood half of the reasons why he got himself into the messes he got into until they were already over and done with. The way his partner was looking at him now though, Jim just knew he’d being hearing about this particular, ah… _mess_ for a long time. Blue lighting graced over Harvey’s features, casting his angry and annoyed face in an odd glow, which Jim couldn’t help but chuckle at. _The Iceberg Lounge_ wasn’t really Harvey’s scene, to be fair.

 

“What are we even doing here?” Harvey asked, looking around for what seemed like the hundredth time that night.

“Having a drink. Our services were requested for the party tonight, and we are in good with him now.” Jim explained, taking a sip of his soda. He and Harvey were on duty, after all.

“At this place? Penguin’s place? And you agreed to this without talking to me first?” Harvey accused.

“Yeah, because I knew you’d handle it so well,” Jim responded, with a hint of sarcasm.

“Every available person from the damn mob is here, Jim! Of course I’m not happy about this!”

“Which is exactly why we are here. Oswald asked me to keep an eye out, even though he has his own people. Ever since…well, you know…he doesn’t trust anyone,”

“Except you?” Harvey raised an eyebrow in question.

Jim hung his head. “Business only.” He knew he didn’t deserve Oswald’s trust; not after what had happened. That didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt.

“I know you two had a thing way back in the day, but I thought you were over that,” Harvey slid the bowl of bar peanuts over to Jim in offering.

“It’s not that. It’s how I hurt everyone while on that fucking virus. I was a monster. I don’t blame Oswald for hating me,” Jim ran his finger along his glass to try to keep himself from getting too angry at himself.

Harvey’s heart ached for his best friend and partner. “Jim; that was months ago. Penguin has already had it out with you about Fish, and about the damage caused by the virus. Hell, you helped him when he decided to unfreeze Nygma, which was a huge mistake, I’m just pointing that out now,” Jim sighed in response. “But, you have to move forward. New day, remember?”

Jim looked past the bar, to where Oswald was shaking hands with one of the other patrons. He felt a pang of regret in his heart. “Yeah…new day,”

 

Jim was alone at the bar, foot tapping to the music that was playing while Harvey went to the bathroom. No one approached him, but that’s because he probably looked like a cop from a mile away. Harvey had said once he couldn’t ever _not_ look like a cop, and Jim knew it was true. He was thinking about why Oswald would have all of these criminals under one roof, _his own roof_ at that, so he didn’t realize someone had sat next to him at the bar.

“Swell party,” a voice that Jim would pick out of a crowd anywhere. It made his blood boil, but Jim toned it back for the sake of his job and of Oswald’s wrath at a fight breaking out in his club.

“Nygma. Surprised you would want to be back here. Miss your second home, I take it?” Jim bit out.

“Oh, zing! I’ve been snapped!” Ed replied, with a hand on his chest in mock hurt. Jim glared at him. “I’m not here to make trouble. O—Penguin requested my appearance tonight, as a show of good faith,” Ed didn’t really understand the real reason Oswald had asked him here; but he figured they were going with a mutual truce, so he didn’t want to spoil it.

“Uh-huh. You shot him,” Jim pointed out.

Ed narrowed his eyes. “He killed—“

“Oh, don’t give me that load of bullshit, Ed. We all know what really happened now, don’t we? She was a fake, and I would have told you that, if I ever saw her. Kristen was my friend. They used your weakness; just admit it,” Jim knew that was hitting below the belt, but everything Ed had put him through, Jim thought it was deserved.

“Are we just going to pick open old wounds tonight, or do you have places to be?” Ed asked, through gritted teeth.

“Getting along swimmingly, eh boys?” Oswald chose that moment to say ‘hello’. _Of course he did,_ Ed thought. Jim nodded in Oswald’s direction once in response, while Ed rolled his eyes.

“Just fine,” Ed responded, flagging down the bartender. He was going to need a seriously strong drink if this is where the night was headed.

“Oh, yeah. I have chills.” Jim said, taking the last sip of his soda.

“ _Fantastic_. Ed, thank you for coming,” Oswald said, turning to Ed and smiling. Ed couldn’t help but return it. This is as close proximity they had had, since Fries had released him from his frozen prison.

“I appreciate the invitation. Rough crowd, I must say.” Ed observed.

Oswald smirked. “All the better for them to understand who really runs Gotham,”

“Ok, I am sitting right here, you know,” Jim chimed in.

“Yes, I see you, Jim. Thank you for coming also. I would thank Bullock too, but he is out there trying to hit on one of my waitresses.” Oswald chuckled, and Ed craned his neck to see.

“The brunette?” Ed asked, when he caught the telltale top of Harvey’s hat in his view.

“Yes. I didn’t have the heart to tell him…he’s not her type. As in, he has the wrong parts,” Oswald laughed out loud now. Ed looked at Oswald and chuckled along with him, not being able to help himself. He would never admit this out loud, but Ed had always loved Oswald’s smile…

“Don’t tell him. Serves him right for leaving me here by myself,” Jim said, gruffly.

“Well, I need to go—talk to some other people. Enjoy the party. Jim, keep an eye out,” Oswald said quickly, and Jim didn’t miss the uncomfortable tone in his voice. He knew it well, and Jim shook his head at Oswald’s back. On Oswald’s part, it was getting to be too much like how he and Ed used to be; it hurt too much to think about the old days. Whenever things weren’t so complicated; before he made the idiotic and downright selfish decision to have Ed’s girlfriend killed because he couldn’t let Ed be happy. It didn’t matter of she was one of the Court’s ploys or not…it still hurt Ed at the time. At first, Oswald didn’t shoulder any of the blame; he blamed Ed for hurting him and betraying him. But now, he realized one thing…he still loved Ed. So much in fact, that he willingly let him go. Ivy, Victor and Bridgit did not approve, and made it known to Oswald at the time, but reluctantly accepted his decision. Oswald decided it was better for both of them if they weren’t close at all. Not even friends. Oswald shook away the bitterness he felt from his head to his toes, as he made his way over to another table. He refused to look weak in front of these people.

“Well, that was…unexpected.” Ed said, a bit confused. Jim snorted into his knuckles. “Something funny, detective? I love a good joke. A riddle, perhaps?”

“You know him probably better than I do at this point, Ed. You didn’t see his face just there?” Jim asked, raising an eyebrow. At Ed’s blank look, he rolled his eyes. “You still have a chance. Fuck all if I know why, but you do. Fix it,”

“Fix what, exactly? We aren’t trying to kill each other, so I would say it’s going well,” Ed said, but inside he was screaming at Jim to stop talking about it. Ed had gone over trying to become Oswald’s friend again and again, and every scenario ended in disaster. They had both forgiven each other, but it was a ways out before either of them forgot the betrayal of the other. It wasn’t even about Isabella anymore; if it ever was.

“Fix it. You. Him. You and him. Fix it. Do not make the same mistake I did,” Jim told Ed in all honesty. Ed looked at him with widened eyes, and for a moment Jim was looking at the man who used to work in forensics; who shared fondue with him in Lee’s apartment and not the man claiming to be _The Riddler_.

“W-what do you mean?” Ed asked, suddenly very nervous.

“This isn’t hard. I can tell by the way he looked at you, and how you looked at him that you miss each other. I know what it feels like to miss him,” Jim admitted, shaking his head. “You both are so full of anger and stupid pride that it gets in the way of something that could be great. You two were better together. Hell, the _city_ was better with the two of you together,”

“I’m not angry with him. I am more angry at myself for hurting my best friend and what it took for me to see—“ Ed cut off, and blinked away tears he felt stinging his eyes.

“See what?”

“What was right in front of me the whole time,” Ed replied, sinking his head into his hands.

“You were always a little dense when it came to emotional cues,” Jim commented.

“Kick me while I’m down, detective,” Ed muttered.

“Talk to him. Make this right. Or, at least make the first move. He is more stubborn than you are, so he won’t. Take my word for it,” Jim told him.

“Why are you helping me?” Ed asked.

“We used to be friends once,” Jim said, with a shrug. “For old time’s sake, I guess,”

“For old time’s sake. Yes,” Ed agreed, but not truly believing this man who was responsible for some of his not very fine moments in his past.

Harvey appeared beside Jim in that moment, and eyed Ed suspiciously. “No riddles for us?”

“Not today,” Ed muttered, which Harvey raised an eyebrow at. He looked to Jim, who shook his head.

“Let’s just do our job, huh? And quit hitting on the waitresses.” Jim said, as Harvey sat down.

“Struck out anyway. Loosen up, Jimbo. No one is that stupid to try anything in his club, of all places. Well, almost anyone,” Harvey shot a quick glance at Ed, who glared at him.

“I am not even going to dignify that with a retort. If you will excuse me, gentleman,” Ed sat some money on the bar for his drink, and quickly exited Harvey and Jim’s vicinity.

“What the hell, man?” Harvey asked.

“Don’t ask,” Jim advised him.

“Don’t gotta tell me twice,” Harvey said, ordering some water for the both of them. Jim looked to where Ed was headed, but he lost him in the crowd. Jim hoped that Ed took him seriously when they spoke earlier. Only time would tell, he supposed. Jim went back to surveying the party, as Harvey talked about who was sleeping with who in the precinct, supposedly. Jim laughed at the stories, and began to lighten up a little.

 

-0-

 

As the party wound itself down, Oswald himself ushered everyone out, and bid them safe travels home. He looked at his watch and cursed at the time as it read just after one in the morning. He had managed to avoid any more awkward interactions with Ed the rest of the evening, which he didn’t know if that was good or bad. He wanted to see Ed and talk to him, but at the same time it was _painful._ Clutching his cane a little tighter, Oswald walked back to his office and collapsed in the chair, as he waited for the cleaning crew to finish up so he could tally the totals for the night.

 _Knock, knock._ Oswald sighed, and tried to keep his patience. “Yes?” He asked, in a clipped tone.

As the door slowly opened, Oswald saw the last person he expected to see in it. “I just—I just wanted to say thank you for inviting me. It was a lovely party,” Ed said in a rushed manner.

“Thank you for coming.” Oswald didn’t know what else to say. The two hadn’t spoken this many words to each other in the last few months, and he felt that they had both said all there was to say. He was tired of discussing past matters, and wanted to move on. “Did you need something?”

“Can we talk? I know it’s late, but I’ll be quick,” Ed promised. Oswald sighed, but motioned for him to sit in the chair across the desk anyway. “Thank you,”

“Stop that.”

Ed furrowed his brow. “Stop what?”

“Thanking me, for God’s sake!” Oswald scolded.

“Good manners cost nothing,” Ed quoted his own words back at him, making Oswald falter for a moment.

“Fine. What do you want to talk about?” Oswald asked, now curious as to what was going on. He laced his fingers together and sat them on the desk in front of him.

“I—I know that past discrepancies destroyed our friendship. I did not think that would ever happen. You were my best friend, Oswald. My only friend.” Ed began. After he spoke with Jim, he decided to just put everything out on the table. What did he have to lose? “At your election party, when Butch tried to choke me…you saved me. That night—“ Ed’s eyes burned now with unshed tears as he thought of the memory, so vivid in his mind. “You saved me. You constantly saved me, Oswald. You saved me from—her, without even realizing you did,”

“Ed. I heard you before. You wanted a chance to be happy, and I took that away from you. No matter what or who she was, I didn’t know that at the time. I deserved what I got, and more.” Oswald stated as a fact, trying to keep his emotions at bay. The look on Ed’s face was a mix of fear, nervousness, and something that Oswald couldn’t read.

Ed shook his head. “No. No, you didn’t. What made me realize that was when I was frozen, believe it or not.”

“Ice therapy,” Oswald joked, with a half-smile.

Ed chuckled. “What I’m trying to say is…that night, when we were back at the mansion; you made me your mother’s tea and made sure I was comfortable. I said I would do anything for you and you could always count on me,”

Oswald couldn’t help a tear escaping, falling down his cheek. He sniffed and shook his head, pleading. “Ed…please. Stop,”

Ed rose and went to bend down to one knee in front of Oswald. “I meant that. I meant every word. The way you looked at me…I’ll never forget it. No one had ever looked at me like that. Not Kristen…not Isabella. No one. I felt…I felt like you were—“

Oswald clenched his eyes shut fully as more tears fell, and reopened them. Only to see Ed looking at him with the same soft, kind eyes that he remembered from before. It felt like a dagger to his heart. “Like I was what?”

“I felt like we had this connection. But…when you didn’t—well, when you didn’t kiss me—I thought I was wrong.” Ed stammered out, letting out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. _Talk about all cards from the deck there buddy,_ his traitorous other voice said. Ed didn’t care much, at this point. Jim said fix it? Well, he was damn well going to try.

“You—you—oh my god,” Oswald felt like he couldn’t breathe, and Ed noticed he was having a panic attack. He squeezed both of Oswald’s shoulders.

“Oswald, you have to relax. It’s okay,” Ed tried soothing him.

“You—if this is some trick of yours…” Oswald shook his head, trying to clear it.

“No tricks. No riddles. I promise,” Ed was rubbing soothing circles onto Oswald’s back now, to try and comfort him as best he could. For a moment, they were both in Ed’s old apartment where Ed would soothe Oswald after he had a nightmare about his mother.

Oswald couldn’t help but nervously chuckle at that. “Y-you. N-no riddles? That will be the day,”

“I want to fix this, Oswald. I miss you. I miss you so much,” Ed said honestly. Oswald took a few minutes to calm down fully, and then another full ten minutes of Ed making shushing noises, and telling him it was alright before he calmed enough to speak. He looked directly into Ed’s eyes, and Ed’s heart fluttered with Oswald’s gaze. He had sure missed his friend looking at him like that.

“You have no idea how much I have missed you, old friend,” Oswald reached for Ed then, tentatively. He wasn’t sure if it would be welcome or not. He just needed to feel Ed in his arms again.

Oswald shouldn’t have worried. Ed grasped onto Oswald tightly, hugging him to his chest. He sighed with all the emotions in his heart and head that he felt were going to explode within him. “I hated being away from you, just for the record.” Ed murmured into Oswald’s hair.

“As have I,” Oswald agreed, hanging onto Ed even tighter. He could smell his crisp, citrusy cologne that Ed used, and something beneath that solely belonged to _Ed._ It made his head spin, but in a wonderful way. If he was dreaming, he never wanted to wake up. Then, he felt Ed kiss the top of his head. Oswald sat up just a little, and gaped at him. “What—“

“No. No, that didn’t feel right,” Ed furrowed his brow, and Oswald was now confused.

“Wh—“ Oswald began, and felt warm lips pressed against his own. _Ed was…Ed was kissing him. ED WAS KISSING HIM!_ He chanted in his head. Oswald couldn’t believe it. As many times as Ed kissing him entered his dreams, they paled in comparison to the real thing. Then, when Ed’s tongue swiped along his bottom lip, asking for entrance, he felt like he died and gone to heaven. Ed, for his part, felt like this was the missing piece to the puzzle that he’d been searching for, for a long time. When he thought he had killed Oswald, a part of him died with him. Ed knew for certain now that he should have just kissed Oswald that night on the couch. Oh, he had wanted to…but he was afraid of being rejected. Oswald wrapped his hands around Ed’s back and held him close as they kissed, only breaking apart when the need to breathe became overwhelming.

Ed rested his forehead on Oswald’s, panting. “I should have done that a lot sooner,” he said, voice husky.

“I concur,” Oswald chuckled, pressing another chaste kiss to Ed’s lips…just because he could now. If the need to be near Ed wasn’t as strong as it was in that moment, Oswald would have been up doing a happy dance, his bad leg be damned.

“I know that this won’t all be wine and roses for us.” Ed admitted, holding Oswald closer if that were even possible.

Oswald shrugged. “I am rather partial to lilies and whiskey anyway,”

Ed laughed, and Oswald felt his heart swell with the beautiful sound. “I’ll keep that in mind,”

“Seriously, though. I know what you’re saying. Ed…I love you. I—I never stopped. Even when we were fighting. I know that there are some things that need to be said, and need to be talked about. But, we have the time now…right?”

Ed pressed a kiss to Oswald’s lips and cupped his cheek with his palm. “All the time in the world,” Ed looked directly into Oswald’s eyes, so he would know Oswald believed him. “I love you too, just in case you didn’t get that before.”

Oswald felt the tears return now, but for a completely different reason. “Better late than never, as my mother always said,”

“She was a very wise woman,” Ed smiled, and Oswald hugged Ed tightly. “So…does this mean, you’ll have me?”

Oswald had an idea, and smiled. “Who are you?” he asked.

Ed looked confused for a moment; but at Oswald’s smile, he caught on. “Edward. Nygma. I know who you are.”

“Then you know you aren’t close enough,” Oswald gripped the back of Ed’s neck and pulled him into another kiss, this one surpassing the others they had shared in passion and heat. They were so full of euphoria and wrapped up in each other, that neither one of them heard the door knock, and open.

“Oswald, place is clear… _oh_ ,” Jim whispered the last bit, as he saw the scene before him. He smiled a little, and shut the door behind him again quietly. _Bout time,_ he thought.

**Author's Note:**

> I know this probably makes no sense to anyone but me, and for the love of God I cannot let go of the fact that Isabella was not just another plot device and she had a purpose. Just to break up the team of Os and Ed. 
> 
> I cannot wait until Season 4!!!


End file.
